During my last three years, I watched my friends engage in the festival through the roles of intern, blogger, and assistants, but never took the plunge for myself.

As a student, I would look up the grid for CInemapolis, do a simple Google search and decide what to see with my friends. After the screenings, life would go on without much thought regarding the guests or the works themselves.

As a staffer, the festival enchanted me.

Immersing in programmed films and guests’ bios week after week built my anticipation for the events. By the time the festival arrived, my staffer badge felt like a highly coveted backstage pass to an intellectual concert.

When you work for the festival, you’re around a group of people who exude as much...

During my last three years, I watched my friends engage in the festival through the roles of intern, blogger, and assistants, but never took the plunge for myself.

As a student, I would look up the grid for CInemapolis, do a simple Google search and decide what to see with my friends. After the screenings, life would go on without much thought regarding the guests or the works themselves.

As a staffer, the festival enchanted me.

Immersing in programmed films and guests’ bios week after week built my anticipation for the events. By the time the festival arrived, my staffer badge felt like a highly coveted backstage pass to an intellectual concert.

When you work for the festival, you’re around a group of people who exude as much...

Dr. Aristarkhova was referring to Pussy Riot, the Russian feminist punk rock protest group whose members were prosecuted and thrown to prison for hooliganism. Park 223 was filled with audience, with many of whom sitting on the floor. During the an-hour-long presentation, Dr. Aristarkhova shared her childhood memories of the former USSR and praised Russia’s younger generations, like Pussy Riot and activists group “Spring”, for being fearless.

Dr. Aristarkhova was referring to Pussy Riot, the Russian feminist punk rock protest group whose members were prosecuted and thrown to prison for hooliganism. Park 223 was filled with audience, with many of whom sitting on the floor. During the an-hour-long presentation, Dr. Aristarkhova shared her childhood memories of the former USSR and praised Russia’s younger generations, like Pussy Riot and activists group “Spring”, for being fearless.

As a black man and ex-felon, McKinley has a deeply personal relationship to the issues that come with mass incarceration, all of which he raised in the documentary, such as food deserts, over policing and violence, the degradation of inner city schools, abandoned neighborhoods, and lack of access to health care.

The systematic attacks on communities of color need major counter actions. In the personal, reflexive and revealing documentary McKinley encourages viewers to take charge of their communities to stop the extreme injustices at hand.

“I don’t want to shoot people with a gun. I want to shoot people with my camera,” McKinley said. He has made it his mission to change the system plaguing his friends, family and fellow citizens.

As a black man and ex-felon, McKinley has a deeply personal relationship to the issues that come with mass incarceration, all of which he raised in the documentary, such as food deserts, over policing and violence, the degradation of inner city schools, abandoned neighborhoods, and lack of access to health care.

The systematic attacks on communities of color need major counter actions. In the personal, reflexive and revealing documentary McKinley encourages viewers to take charge of their communities to stop the extreme injustices at hand.

“I don’t want to shoot people with a gun. I want to shoot people with my camera,” McKinley said. He has made it his mission to change the system plaguing his friends, family and fellow citizens.